TY - JOUR
T1 - Covid-19 pandemic as a traumatic event and its associations with fear and mental health
T2 - A cognitive-activation approach
AU - Sanchez-Gomez, Martin
AU - Giorgi, Gabriele
AU - Finstad, Georgia Libera
AU - Urbini, Flavio
AU - Foti, Giulia
AU - Mucci, Nicola
AU - Zaffina, Salvatore
AU - León-Perez, José M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2021/7/2
Y1 - 2021/7/2
N2 - The COVID-19 global pandemic still represents a major threat with detrimental health consequences. Analyzing the psychological outcomes, COVID-19 could be interpreted as a collec-tive traumatic event that can generate symptoms related to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Considering this, the purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to investigate the relationship between intrusive thoughts and fear related to the COVID-19 pandemic and between intrusive thoughts and mental health; second, to test the mediating role of hyperarousal and avoidance in these two relationships. In order to reach these aims, the present study investigated these relationships and tested a mediation model in two cross-sectional studies in Italy. Altogether, 627 individuals and 495 workers completed an online survey for study 1 and study 2, respectively. Mediation analyses were performed via the SPSS macro PROCESS; the significance of total, direct, and indirect effect was tested via bootstrapping. The results showed that within the PTSD framework, hyperarousal compared with avoidance mediated the relationship between intrusion and the analyzed outcomes. In conclusion, the present study provided empirical evidence for the influence of hyperarousal on individual consequences such as fear of COVID-19 and mental health. Research, as well as theoretical and practical implications, are discussed.
AB - The COVID-19 global pandemic still represents a major threat with detrimental health consequences. Analyzing the psychological outcomes, COVID-19 could be interpreted as a collec-tive traumatic event that can generate symptoms related to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Considering this, the purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to investigate the relationship between intrusive thoughts and fear related to the COVID-19 pandemic and between intrusive thoughts and mental health; second, to test the mediating role of hyperarousal and avoidance in these two relationships. In order to reach these aims, the present study investigated these relationships and tested a mediation model in two cross-sectional studies in Italy. Altogether, 627 individuals and 495 workers completed an online survey for study 1 and study 2, respectively. Mediation analyses were performed via the SPSS macro PROCESS; the significance of total, direct, and indirect effect was tested via bootstrapping. The results showed that within the PTSD framework, hyperarousal compared with avoidance mediated the relationship between intrusion and the analyzed outcomes. In conclusion, the present study provided empirical evidence for the influence of hyperarousal on individual consequences such as fear of COVID-19 and mental health. Research, as well as theoretical and practical implications, are discussed.
KW - Avoidance
KW - COVID-19
KW - Hyperarousal
KW - Intrusion
KW - Mental health
KW - PTSD
KW - Pattern
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85109527624&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/ijerph18147422
DO - 10.3390/ijerph18147422
M3 - Artículo
C2 - 34299873
AN - SCOPUS:85109527624
SN - 1661-7827
VL - 18
JO - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
IS - 14
M1 - 7422
ER -